


From the Blackest Regions Between the Stars

by Shadaras



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, The Locked Tomb Trilogy | Gideon the Ninth Series - Tamsyn Muir
Genre: All Magic Is The Same Magic Probably, Alternate Universe - Gideon Lives, Crossover, Gen, Space is Big and Fandoms Can Coexist, Unexpected Alliances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:22:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26843572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadaras/pseuds/Shadaras
Summary: A lone ship, traveling from the Unknown Region, orbits Jakku. Rey takes it upon herself to go investigate who this is, and why they're here.
Relationships: Gideon Nav & Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Poe Dameron & Finn & Rey, Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey & Harrowhark Nonagesimus
Comments: 12
Kudos: 28
Collections: Writing Rainbow Black





	From the Blackest Regions Between the Stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gloss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gloss/gifts).



People didn’t just come out of the Unknown Regions. At least, not without some very good reason.

By the histories Rey had half-heartedly studied while Poe and Finn excitedly tried to fill her in on the grander aspects of Galactic History, with the rest of the Resistance chipping in when they had the chance, the last person who came out of the Unknown Regions was Grand Admiral Thrawn. He’d been brilliant, and strange, and Rey still didn’t really know what to believe about him.

So the weird ship floating half-dead in the orbit of Jakku (because of course it was Jakku; it was, somehow, always Jakku) that didn’t match any design schematics Rey knew (and she knew a lot) had to have come from the Unknown Regions, and nobody knew _why_.

During the days of hyperspace travel it had taken to get to Jakku, Rey had listened to all the arguments about what they should or shouldn’t do, and still hadn’t wavered from her original opinion: They should open communications, and see what happened next.

Which meant that, over the loudly shouted advice of both Finn and Poe, Rey had steered the _Falcon_ into parallel orbit and was tight-beaming a hail to the weird newcomer.

“This is Rey, on the _Millennium Falcon_ ,” she said. “Please identify yourselves and your intentions.”

“Their intentions can’t be great, or else why wouldn’t they have sent their own message?” Poe grumbled quietly from the copilot’s seat.

Finn was taking advantage of the easy flight to hang over the copilot’s seat and absently play with Poe’s hair while watching. “I’m telling you, that ship looks messed up.”

“It could be a ploy.”

Rey ignored them, because they’d been bickering the whole way and neither of them really meant it anymore. Besides, she could feel a faintly familiar creeping sensation through the Force, growing stronger as they neared the ship. It wasn’t enough to make her think the ship definitely carried foes, but it set her on edge.

Fortunately, before Poe and Finn could turn their argument into another excuse to go somewhere else and work out their nerves, the comm pinged. “Quiet,” Rey snapped, opening the channel.

They all listened as a crackly voice came through. “Fuck, is this working? Shit’s fried. Yes, I _know_ I’m pressing the right button! Just because I studied the blade doesn’t mean I didn’t study _anything_ else. Fuck me, of course I know how a shuttle’s _supposed_ to work.”

Rey exchanged looks with her friends, then, slowly, said, “Hello? We can hear you.”

“Hah! Told you!”

More static, then a different voice: “The Ninth House greets you.”

 _Ninth House?_ Rey mouthed at the others. She’d never heard any organization under that name, but it did have the right flavor for some of the more unusual Force-using organizations she’d encountered.

Poe shrugged, and Finn shook his head; they obviously didn’t know the name either.

“My name is Rey,” she said, instead of trying to figure out what was going on. “Are you in need of assistance?”

“Yes,” the first person said emphatically. At the same time, the second one snapped, “No!”

“Make up your mind,” Poe advised, finally unable to stay out of the talk despite how opposed he’d made himself seem to the idea. “We aren’t planning on making you pay or anything; just got word that there was someone stranded out in the black and wanted to know what was going on.”

A long silence, and then the second person spoke again. “Who are _you_?”

Rey said, “Rey,” for the third time.

“Poe Dameron, of the New Republic.” Poe leaned on the dashboard and grinned at Rey. “And Mister Not Part Of This Discussion Yet is my boyfriend Finn.”

“There wasn’t anything I needed to say,” Finn said mildly, pinching at Poe’s ear. “Yes, I’m Finn. We’ve got a droid on the ship too, but he’s not here right now.”

“Gideon Nav,” the first—and markedly more cheerful—voice said. “And my Umbral Mistress here is—”

“ _Speaking for herself_ , asshole.” The second person cut Gideon off quickly. “I am the Reverend Lady Harrowhark Nonagesimus, scion of the Ninth House.”

“ _Do_ you need any help?” Rey asked again, remembering the way they’d been arguing at the beginning. “More fuel, or repairs, or a way to land?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Gideon said, and then there was a sputter that Rey suspected was Harrowhark covering her mouth. Even so, the idea of her words came through: “Fuel makes the ship go, Harrow!”

“I know that, _Griddle_.”

Finn was shaking with silent laughter, and Poe had a smile on his face too. “Can you dock with us?” Poe asked, interrupting what sounded like was going to be an extended argument. “Might be easier to talk if we’re face-to-face.”

Harrowhark said, “Griddle is, unfortunately, correct. We’re out of fuel.”

“Then let us do the docking,” Rey said, far more cheerful now that they knew something about what was going on. “Just hang tight for a minute, okay?”

A loud sigh, as Harrowhark said, “If we must.”

Rey didn’t say anything back, instead settling her hands on the controls and reaching out with the Force. They were already close; it wouldn’t take more than a few nudges of their maneuvering jets to get everything lined up. The Force was there mostly to ensure that the airlocks would line up.

Poe ran his own fingers across the controls at Finn’s prompting, and said, “Sensors think the atmosphere inside the shuttle is about the same as ours. Makes sense, if they speak Galactic Standard so easily.”

The ships slipped together with a _click_ , and Rey relaxed enough to say, “That’s good, makes things easier.” She toggled the comms again, and said, “We’ll meet you at the airlocks.”

“Gotcha,” Gideon’s cheerful voice replied.

Then the line turned to static, and Rey stood. Poe and Finn flanked her as they moved the short distance to the _Falcon’s_ airlock. There wasn’t any need to worry about weapons or armor here; Poe carried a pistol and vibroknife like habit, and Rey and Finn both had their lightsabers. Besides, at the distances in airlocks, armor wouldn’t do anything but signal that they expected a fight, and Rey dearly didn’t want one at all.

They also didn’t talk about what Gideon and Harrowhark were going to look like. Human, or close enough, Rey supposed, but no reason to speculate when they were about to find out.

Still, when the doors opened and pressure stabilised, Rey blinked in shock. Whatever she’d been expecting, it wasn’t two people who—other than the black-and-white face paint they both wore—couldn’t be more different.

Neither of them could be older than Rey herself. One was tall, bulky; her build reminded Rey of how a lot of the ex-Stormtroopers looked, especially the ones who learned melee weapons. The sword sticking out over her back just made it all the clearer that she was used to combat and prepared for it. The other one was short, slender, and decorated all her black clothes with bones.

 _Well_ , Rey thought, trying to compose herself enough to say something. _At least I know why the Force is strange around them now_.

Finn stepped forward with an easy smile and absolutely no obvious concern in his voice or body or even Force aura. “Gideon and Harrowhark? I’m Finn, the lovely man over there is Poe, and our esteemed leader is Rey. Welcome aboard the _Millennium Falcon_.”

“Gideon Nav,” the taller one said. From behind her tinted glasses, it was hard to say where she was looking. “Can you get our ship working again?”

“Depends on what’s wrong, but we’re pretty good at fixing things.”

Rey tuned out the technical chatter, because Harrowhark hadn’t stopped looking at her the entire time. Her golden eyes—the only thing about her that had any color—were fixed on Rey’s. “Harrowhark,” Rey said quietly, trying to figure out what was going on.

“You have power,” Harrowhark said abruptly, moving forward. She peered at Rey, even as the bones ringing her fingers seemed to quiver. “Thalergy is bursting out of your seams.”

Instinctively, Rey gathered the Force around her and reached out to try and understand what Harrowhark was using to come to that conclusion. Even as she did so, she asked, “Thalergy?”

“Life energy.” Harrowhark’s eyes burnt into Rey’s. “You shine with it.”

Rey stepped back, aware that the strange feeling in the Force—which wasn’t exactly the Dark Side of the Force but resembled it—was radiating from Harrowhark and growing more powerful as the bones she held shook. “Then Finn should too,” she said, because if what Harrowhark was talking about was the Force, Finn had also studied it.

Harrowhark glanced his way, and then nodded once, abruptly. “Help us fix the ship,” she said, more loudly. “Griddle, I think we may have an answer to our problem.”

“Which one?” Gideon asked. “Because obviously we have the answer to the _aw fuck the ship doesn’t work_ one, but are you talking about the _what the fuck where are we_ problem or the _holy shit we’re running away from god_ problem?”

“The latter,” Harrowhark said, and the chill feeling around her settled. She smiled, and Rey realised that under all the facepaint, the sharp lines of her face could settle into something intense and compelling. “I don’t know what power these people hold, but if we can’t kill the Lord Undying with his own tricks, maybe we need something a little more… _alive_.”

“Excuse me,” Rey said, knowing that Finn and Poe were about to ask the same thing. “What are you trying to rope us into?”

Gideon gave a lazy smile that didn’t lack at all for bloodthirsty power despite her nonchalance. “Nothing much. Just trying to kill the Lord Undying, God Emperor John Gaius, may his name be ever-cursed for being a _fucking asshole_.”

Poe let out a deep breath, reacting first, and said, “Okay. Let’s get your ship fixed up. While we’re doing that, how about you start from the beginning?”

Harrowhark agreed, and so by the time they’d fixed up the ship (it was out of gas, had some burnt-out wiring, and also ran on systems that Rey spent a long and delighted time translating into her own experience so she could transfer maps between it and the _Falcon_ ), they’d laid out a basic explanation.

One, Harrowhark and Gideon were some of the last survivors of their House, which was something like but not precisely the same as a planet.

Two, Harrowhark and Gideon were bound together in Lyctorhood, which Rey understood to be something like a Force Dyad but involving a lot more death.

Three, Harrowhark and Gideon both being alive right now was an affront to the Lord Undying, who sounded like at least as much of a terrible ruler as Palpatine had been even _before_ they started explaining about killing planets to create necromantic fuel.

“We can’t pledge all our forces to this without talking to the council,” Rey said, when it was late and the story had finished. She fiddled with her fork while talking—they’d eaten dinner but not yet cleaned it up. “But I have to say, I really _want_ to help.”

“I’m not going back there without help,” Gideon announced. She seemed utterly immune to Harrowhark’s glare, and just looked back while saying, “You don’t want to die either!”

Harrowhark scoffed, but just turned to Rey and said, “Will you help argue our case?”

“I will,” Rey promised. That much, she knew she could do.

“Then it is settled.” Harrowhark smiled again. It didn’t seem like something she was used to. “We are in your debt.”

“We don’t want someone like that to expand here either,” Finn said, as he stood up to clear the dishes away. “Besides, I’m pretty sure we want to learn about your, uh, thanergetic powers just as much as you’re curious about the Force.”

Rey nodded. “I’m looking forward to learning from you,” she told Harrowhark, and she meant it.

Harrowhark drew a breath, looking as if she didn’t quite believe it, and then said, “I look forward to it too.”


End file.
